HOW YOU CAN INCREASE YOUR HAPPINESS
What brings you happiness? What are the things, places or people in your life that make you happy? When we think about what it really means to be happy we sometimes think of these specific, tangible things that make us happy. However, you could be at Disneyland and it starts to rain. You now find yourself robbed of that joy in the “Happiest Place on Earth”. You could be watching your favorite baseball team and they blow it in the final inning. Researchers have long studied what truly makes us happy and they’re beginning to find that happiness isn’t derived from what we have or where we are but that it is a state of mind. Researchers and doctors from Harvard University have defined happiness as the ability to cope and choose joy during our difficult times (Health.Harvard.edu, 2020).
Blogger Tanya Gupta, coined “The 3 A’s to Happiness” to help simplify the concept of practicing a happy state of mind because, lets face it, when we are in the thick of our trials, which often are more complex than a rainy day at Disneyland, it is so hard to choose joy. Gupta shares what we can do in those moments of despair.
Accept. Adapt. Affirm.
Keeping in mind that happiness is a state of mind, we first must accept the difficult trial we are experiencing. We then adapt to the changes that come with the that trial. Finally, we affirm to ourselves that everything will be okay and we can still be happy (Gupta, 2020).
The 3 A’s of Happiness provide a simple way to choose joy in the midst of anguish. However, sometimes we aren’t necessarily experiencing a serious trial, we just want to be a little happier in the mundaneness of everyday life. It is okay to feel this way! Greek Philosopher Aristotle stated, “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim, and the end of the human existence.” Researchers alike agree, including scientists for the Children’s Health Council, concluding that there are meaningful ways we can increase our happiness.
5 simple ways to increase happiness:
- Being social
- Giving service
- Expressing gratitude
- Practicing mindfulness
- Practicing self-compassion
(chconline.org, 2024).
This list simply offers ideas of small, every day changes we can make to our mindset to increase our daily happiness. It should be noted this list is not exhaustive. Significant research supports that being physically active and leading a healthy lifestyle can also boost our overall feelings of happiness.
Aristotle shared the idea that happiness is our purpose, however, there are also benefits to being happy besides the obvious ones of feeling good. While studying the lasting impact of being happy, the University of New Hampshire found that people experienced better physical health, longer life expectancy, increased creativity, better relationships, and the ability to cope better through life’s hardships among some of the most reported effects of being happier (Unh.edu, 2024).
It is important to note, mental health challenges, such as depression and anxiety, can interfere with our happiness. If this is the case, therapy, counseling and medication are known to help aid in happiness.
In times of anguish your state of mind will help you persevere through your trials! Remember the 3 A’s of happiness: Accept, Adapt and Affirm (Gupta, 2020).
It is our purpose to be happy! Try out some of these tips for the next few weeks and see how it impacts your overall feelings of happiness.
Sources:
- Choosing joy during difficult times – Harvard Health
- How to Be Happy, According to Science – Childrens Health Council (chconline.org)
- Positive Psychology Strategies for Increased Happiness | Psychological & Counseling Services (unh.edu)
- The 3 A’s to Happiness. I’m going to get straight into it. In… | by Tanya Gupta | Thoughts by Tanya | Medium
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